Altman: Working as an investor first gives founders crucial decision pattern matching
Sam Altman · Sam Altman on Building OpenAI & Betting on the Impossible · Aug 23, 2026 · at 20:25
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reflects on his career trajectory going from startup investor to CEO of OpenAI, comparing it to the typical Silicon Valley path.
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“You get this unbelievable set of learnings and pattern matching if you really study and watch companies as an investor that has been super helpful to me running openai but it's like it's the opposite normal direction so it's just like a very rare thing and i strongly recommend it”
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